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ultyutae · 5 years

Text

A Melancholic Melody

Jaehyun x Reader

Word Count: 2.2k... Yeah I really did alot for this one

Tags: Angst if you squint hard enough, fluff?, healing, comfort

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of death, illness, implied trauma

A/n: honestly this was sort of experimental for me and im not sure how to feel about it. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated <3

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, calming yourself as you placed your fingers above the correct keys of the piano that sat in front of you. You began to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Your fingers flew over, back and forth between the keys, not hesitating once. You knew the entire piece by heart and muscle memory, with it being the first piece you were taught since you were young. It was a slightly long piece, but it was a beautiful one, like many of Beethoven's works. You were too engrossed into your playing to have been able to notice the figure that was standing by the doorway. By the time you finished the piece, you let out the breath you'vebeen holding in, letting out a sigh of relief. You stared at the keys, realizing that once again, you had stopped playing two thirds of a way through. Your fingers hadn't moved at all for the last five minutes. You had just sat there, staring at your fingers, envisioning yourself playing the piece you knew you couldn't bring yourself to finish. You let out a chuckle, and proceeded to play another tune. Valse Sentimentale, by one of your personal favorite musicians, Tchaikovsky. When you were finished, you decided to finally address the other person who had been in the room with you, staying silent the entire time. You had noticed their presence before you started playing the second piece, and it had annoyed you a bit, not really being used having another person listening while you practiced.

"How long have you been standing there?" you asked, turning your head to finally take a look at your listener. When your eyes met with the stranger, you held back from letting out a gasp. It was Jung Jaehyun, one of the more popular boys in your grade. He was not only a top student in class but also the best in choir, and everyone not only admired him for his princely looks and demeanor, but also his heavenly voice. You were suddenly more curious than annoyed, as to why such a person like him would be watching someone like you, who's a complete stranger to him.

"Long enough," Jaehyun replied, still leaning against the doorway. "You're a beautiful player, by the way. But why did you stop? You never finished Moonlight Sonata."

"So you did see that, huh..." you mumbled. You let out a bitter laugh. "I can never finish that piece. Wanna know why?" Jaehyun stared into your eyes for a few seconds, not letting go of his gaze upon you. You stared back at him with almost a coldness behind your eyes, careful to not let your shield slip any further. Jaehyun nodded.

"Yes, tell me," he said, and he walked closer to you and sat down on the piano stool right next to you. Your heart skipped a few beats as he got closer. This was a new feeling for you. You rarely felt such emotions like this anymore, especially for a stranger. Unable to look directly at him, you turned around and stared at the piano keys.

"It was my mother's last stage performance. She was suffering from an unknown illness, and even though we told her we didn't want perform on stage until she got better, she insisted that she wouldn't let her audience down. She was a well-known and widely admired pianist, and she was well aware of how people all over the world would come to concert festivals just to hear her play. Mother was the closing act. The grand finale. Before she went upstage, she told me to listen carefully, and that most of all, she wanted me watch her play, one last time. Honestly, I thought it meant that she was going to stop playing after that performance. I really wish that was what happened." you explained, not taking your eyes away from the keys.

"So, what happened? Did she keep playing afterwards?" Jaehyun implored, clearly intrigued.

"No," you took a deep breath. "About ten minutes into the piece, she had a heart attack. Her body was too weak to keep playing, and so it gave out before she was able to finish the piece. Everyone in the audience, including me, had to watch as she just...collapsed," you sniffled. Jaehyun put a hand on your shoulder. You didn't bother to look at him, but you appreciated his gesture anyways. "I'm sorry, there was no need for me to tell you all of that. We don't even know each other that well." Jaehyun shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I'm really sorry for your loss... I can only imagine how traumatizing that had to have been. But is it okay if I ask, was the song your Mother was playing...was it Moonlight Sonata?" Jaehyun asked. This caught you off-guard, causing you to look right at him.

"Yeah...it was. I used to treasure this song, it was the the first song I learned, and the first song my mother had taught me. But now..."

"Now you can't play the whole thing, after the incident?" Jaehyun finished. You grimly nodded.

"I always imagine myself picking up from where my mother had stopped at, finishing the piece for her but i- I just can't. I remember every single note and keystroke, I just can't move my fingers until I imagine the piece to be over." You werent sure why, but you had no problem telling Jaehyun all of this. It's almost as if you felt comfortable enough to tell him everything. Jaehyun didn't say anything for about a minute. His eyes flickered back and forth from between you and the piano. Without a word, he turned around in his seat, facing the piano.

"Play with me." Jaehyun said, while staring right at you. You could feel your ears turning red.

"W-w-what??" you stuttered, suddenly becoming now aware of how attractive he really is.

"Oh my god, not like that! I meant on the piano, dummy" Jaehyun replied, with a small flick to your forehead.

"Ow! Is that how you talk to someone you just met?" you jabbed back, now giggling a bit.

"Do you always tell everyone your whole life story after you just met them?" Jaehyun said, playfully. Now it was your turn to flick his forehead, but this time harder than he did to you.

"Ow, what the heck!" Jaehyun yelped, rubbing his forehead.

"No not normally, but let's just say you seem...trustworthy. Don't let it get to your head though, you're still basically a stranger to me" you responded, ignoring his reaction.

"A stranger?? We've been in the same class multiple times throughout the years, not to mention you were the pianist for one of our choir concert's before...do you really think of me as a stranger?" Jaehyun asked, his voice suddenly becoming much softer than it was before. You stared at him for a couple of seconds before giving your answer, not sure how to respond.

"No, I guess not. But I've been wondering, why were you standing here and watching me play in the first place? Shouldn't you have gone home by now, or at least, isn't there choir practice today in the chorus room?" you asked.

"Practice would've probably ended.." Jaehyun room a quick glance at the clock, "ten minutes ago, roughly. But I don't mind, I'm sure the choir teacher will be fine with me missing out on just one practice" he said, not giving much thought.

"Crap, I'm sorry for making you miss your practice," you responded, becoming slightly embarrassed. It had hit you just now that Jaehyun had skipped out on choir practice just to watch you play.

"I was on my way to the choir room, but I noticed someone was playing on the piano, which is why I came to check it out. I stayed after seeing that it was you," Jaehyun explained.

"How could you tell it was me?" you asked, suddenly confused.

"I've seen you play before at a past choir concert remember? You have a gift. It would be pretty hard for me to forget the way you play, or you in general. I think missing out on practice just to watch you play is worth it," Jaehyun said. His tone made him sound chill but once glance at him and his reddening ears had given him away, he was clearly a bit embarrassed by saying this.

"Oh. Thanks, I guess," you responded, now feeling your own ears turn red. An awkward silence came about you two, which was quickly ended by Jaehyun clearing his throat.

"Okay, so should we start?" Jaehyun asked, cracking his knuckles.

"You know how to play?" you asked, also stretching out your fingers.

"Yeah, I learned a little bit of piano when I was younger. I'm not as gifted as you are but I can play a few pieces. Wait here," Jaehyun quickly slid out of the seat and made his way over to the drawers filled with sheet music for the piano. He rummaged through the stacks, searching for the piece you assumed would be the one he wants to play with you. You werent sure why you had no objections to this, as you've never played with someone before, but there was something that made you feel excited when thinking about playing with Jaehyun. The more you had interacted him, the more you noticed about him. He had pretty, delicate hands, and long eyelashes. His eyes also lit up a bit when he smiled at you, which at first had no effect on you, but as he gave you a warm smile while hearing back to your shared seat with the papers in hand, you could feel your heart race faster and faster. You only now just met him, you reminded yourself. You've never once had a conversation with him before this. There was no way you could be developing something for the very attractive choir boy who sat a few desks ahead of you in class. Jaehyun placed the sheet music in front of both of you, quickly opening it to the last few pages. You took a glance at the notes, and recognized it immediately.

"We're gonna play Moonlight Sonata? But you just saw what happened when I tried playing it-"

"Don't worry, the song will be finished. We'll do it together, okay?" Jaehyun said, reassuringly.

"Why are you doing this?" you blurted, now more confused than ever. Jaehyun shrugged.

"Do I need a reason to?" he stated. You took a deep breath and faced the piano keys, readying your fingers and placing them over the starting keys. You expected Jaehyun to do the same, but he just stared at you. "Okay, go ahead and start," he said, nodding. You glanced at him once last time, before closing your eyes and letting your fingers take control of your mind. You started off slow at adagio, but as the piece carried on, you went through the movement of allegretto, and soon enough found yourself nearing the last part you couldn't bring yourself to finish. As you reached the presto agitato, you could feel your fingers slowly start to shake, and your mind starting to shut down. However, instead of hearing the silence that usually came, the sounds of the piano was still audible, and as you opened your eyes, you saw Jaehyun, playing the rest of the piece for- no, with you. You could feel your eyes watering up as you finally heard the rest of the song play, after many years. You had forgotten how beautiful the rest of it was to you, and slowly, you could feel your fingers work their way into playing with him, finding the courage to move your fingers above the keys and play the rest of it. As you finished, you closed your eyes and let out a sigh of relief. It felt like a thorn inside of you had finally been plucked out, like a weight had been taken off your chest. In that moment, you had never been more grateful towards anyone else like you had towards Jaehyun. You felt your eyes water again, and this time, you just let them fall.

"Thank you..." you sputtered in between sobs, "thank you so much for helping me with this," you were sobbing as hard as a child but you couldn't help it. Tears of both happiness and sadness came flooding out at the same time. Jaehyun simply smiled at you and slung an arm around your shoulder, slowly pulling you into his chest.

"It's okay," he whispered. "You can cry as long as you want, I don't mind. I can tell its been tough for you, but it's alright now. You can move on now," he said softly, while stroking your hair. You sobbed even harder, face buried into his chest. You hated showing your emotions like this, but Jaehyun just felt so safe. You didn't want to admit it at the time, but looking back at it now, the day the two of you really met, it was the day you had fallen in love with him.

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